GEO 2000Following on the success of UNEPs first Global Environment Outlook report, GEO 2000 will be the benchmark reference for all those needing reliable
information on current global environmental conditions.

The book presents a global and region-by-region analysis of the
state of the worlds environment, highlighting key global concerns
and making recommendations for policy action. The regions covered
are: Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin
America and the Caribbean, North America, West Asia and the Polar
Areas.

Chapter 1 describes the main drivers of environmental change,
such as the economy, population growth, political organization
and regionalization, as well as potential impacts of recent global
developments including the growth of the consumer culture, trade
and international debt. Chapter 2 provides a global and region-by-region
overview of the state of the environment. The chapter covers global
issues such as ozone, climate change and El Niño, and universal
issues of land and food, forests, biodiversity, freshwater, marine
and coastal areas, atmosphere and urban areas. Chapter 3 reviews
policy instruments and responses being used to address environmental
issues, including multilateral environmental agreements, and analyses
the difficulties of compliance, implementation and assessment.
Chapter 4 looks at priority environmental issues for the 21st
century and at alternative policy options. Chapter 5 makes recommendations
for future action based on the environmental legacy left by past
and present policy and management systems.

The three GEO companion publications, covering the Western Indian
Ocean, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands, put a sub-regional
focus on current environmental issues. With the international
community now assessing progress since the Global Conference on
the Sustainable Development of SIDS, held in Barbados in 1994,
these reports come at a particularly critical time. Providing
a forum for the promotion of priority issues in these regions,
the three reports analyse the state of the environment, offer
a review of current policy responses including multilateral environmental
agreements and regional and national initiatives already under
way, and make alternative policy suggestions for the future.

The participatory process that enabled the development of GEO 2000 has served as a model for the production of these three sub-regional
reports. Involving stakeholders and experts in the fields of environment
and development from all over the world, they aim to promote dialogue
between policy-makers and scientists at all levels and to build
consensus on priority issues.

Deep waterDeep Water, co-authored by Dr. Julian Caldecott and Melanie Salmon, is both
a visual delight and a mine of information, celebrating the beauty
of the oceans and exploring the range of life they support.

From the tiniest organisms to the magnificence of whales, the
diversity, interdependency and fragility of life in the seas are
revealed and explained. The destructive effects of mans exploitation
of the oceans are shown, but Deep Water demonstrates how individuals  in collaboration with local communities,
scientists and governments  are creating economically sustainable
alternatives. A key message of the book is the importance of living
in respectful co-existence with all species to guarantee a future
for human life on Earth.

Deep Water has been produced in association with the Living Earth Foundation
and with the support of UNEP and Global Ocean. Royalties from
sales of the book will be used to support Living Earths ocean
programmes around the world.

Dr. Julian Caldecott is a biologist who has worked for 20 years
on nature conservation in tropical lands and seas. He is the author
of Designing Conservation Projects (Cambridge University Press)
and other books on protecting the Earth. As well as writing, he
works as an independent adviser to groups involved in conservation
and sustainable development.

Melanie Salmon has a life-long love of oceans. In 1997 she founded
Global Ocean  an organization dedicated to the conservation of
marine life. She has worked with many of the worlds leading environmental
groups and produced her first multi-media event, Making Waves,
on marine tourism in 1994.